


Deep End

by freduppet



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, and just wanted 2 put more chiakaos out there so....., kind of cheesy as hell but im tired and wrote it all in an hour and a half
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21882220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freduppet/pseuds/freduppet
Summary: Thank him? What did he ever do for Chiaki, besides turn down all of his attempts to become closer friends in favor of going out with girls he barely even knew?
Relationships: Hakaze Kaoru/Morisawa Chiaki
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	Deep End

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE cry with me

The ocean was Kaoru’s best friend.

That thought had struck him as he gazed into the saltwater tanks in the Marine Biology club room, eyes trained on a particular moray eel swimming in slow circles around the bottom of the sand. He realized that the idea of the “ocean” being his friend could refer to both the mysterious depths of the waves themselves, or rather, his fellow club member who claimed to embody the spirit of water itself. He sighed, smiling as he shifted his knees closer to himself. 

Right before he could drift off to sleep, the atmosphere of the quiet club room beginning to overwhelm him, the door burst open. Kaoru startled. Due to how strangely he was sitting, curled into himself on top of his chair, he ended up jerking his legs oddly, causing him to tumble to the ground. 

Chiaki gasped, running from the doorway to Kaoru’s side. “H-Hakaze!! Are you alright?! I’m so sorry!!” 

Kaoru groaned. Chiaki lent his hand, Kaoru taking it gratefully as he sat up and rubbed his head. 

“Yeah...I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it, Moricchi.” Kaoru realized their hands were still linked. He tried to pull away, but Chiaki’s grip was...unyielding. When Chiaki saw the awkward expression Kaoru now wore, he quickly drew back, eyes wide. 

“Oh, sorry! Sorry.” Chiaki chuckled, a quiet and nervous sound that Kaoru was completely unused to hearing from him. 

Kaoru dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “So...were you looking for Kanata? Because he left a while ago.”

Chiaki shook his head. “No, actually. I was looking for you.” 

Kaoru wasn’t sure whether his eyes were playing tricks on him in the dim light, but it seemed to him like Chiaki’s face had flushed.

He blinked. “Me? Why?” 

Chiaki wrung his hands. “Um...I wanted to thank you.”

Kaoru opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again, dumbfounded. 

Thank him? What did he ever do for Chiaki, besides turn down all of his attempts to become closer friends in favor of going out with girls he barely even knew?

Oh, God.

Chiaki cleared his throat slightly. “Just for...taking such good care of Kanata.”

“What?” Kaoru was sure he sounded like an idiot. Man, did he feel like one.

“Kanata always talks to me about how good of a friend you’ve been...he really does love you, Hakaze. So, I felt that, as Kanata’s partner in Ryuseitai, I had a duty to show my gratitude.” Chiaki exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath the entire time Kaoru was silent before.

“Oh…um…” How the hell was Kaoru supposed to respond to something like that? 

He stood up, feeling Chiaki’s eyes trained upon him in curiosity. Until, he looked at Chiaki again, and Chiaki turned his head away quickly, glancing between the other fish tanks in the room and Kaoru’s face. 

“Don’t worry about it. He’s a great guy.” Kaoru gave a weak smile. 

Chiaki nodded. “He most certainly is! Ha ha!” 

There was a tense silence between them. It filled Kaoru’s lungs with guilt to see Chiaki behaving so timidly. 

“Morisawa-kun.” Kaoru’s voice was gentle as he could make it. 

Chiaki immediately looked back at Kaoru. “Y-yes, Hakaze?”

Kaoru furrowed his brow. “You seem so down, compared to how you normally are. Is everything alright?” If he was going to make up for his ignorance, he figured he may as well start now. 

Chiaki sighed. “Ah, forgive me, Hakaze…I just…” 

Kaoru frowned as Chiaki’s voice faded away, like the sun setting beyond the hillside, leaving him to fend for himself in the cold, lonely night. 

“It’s because of me, isn’t it.” Kaoru’s gaze fell to the toes of his shoes. “I’ve been ignoring you so much, to the point where you feel like you can’t even talk to me without risking making me upset…” 

Chiaki didn’t respond. Kaoru took that as confirmation. 

He tried to think of something to say that would cheer him up. It felt too weird to be around Chiaki when he wasn’t bouncing off the walls with energy.

Then, he got an idea. 

“Well. I don’t have a date tomorrow. Or, anything else to do, really. So…do you want to...” A grin played at Kaoru’s lips as he lifted his head back up to see Chiaki’s eyes sparkling.

It was morning again.

“Of course, Hakaze! I’d love to!!” Chiaki practically jumped for joy, throwing his arms around Kaoru in a hug. Kaoru stiffened, then forced himself to relax, for Chiaki’s sake. He even gave Chiaki a small pat on the back, surprising both of them. 

Chiaki released Kaoru, hands still lingering on his arms, smile beaming rays of sun directly into Kaoru’s retinas. “So...I guess we could just…”

“...mess around downtown, maybe?” Kaoru finished for him.

“Sounds great!” Chiaki slid his hands down to grab Kaoru’s, giving them a quick squeeze before letting go. “I’ll be looking forward to it, Hakaze!”

Kaoru felt himself starting to get embarrassed. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Me too. So, I’ll text you, I guess? When I’m ready.” 

“Ok! Well...I suppose I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, then!” Chiaki lingered for a bit, before spinning around on his heel to leave. He paused at the door frame one last time to give Kaoru a wave, before disappearing, as if he had never been there at all. 

Though, there was no way Kaoru would ever forget how he had entirely lit up the room just by his presence. 

But, maybe, he thought, he would like to forget how much it had just sounded like he asked Chiaki out on a date.

Like the waves of the ocean crashing against the shore in a storm, Kaoru could hear the blood flowing through his head, heart pounding in his ears with a new excitement he wasn’t sure if he had ever felt before.

He was drowning in a new sensation, one he had only ever heard whispers of in movies and through gossip in the hallways. 

Though, perhaps he would just have to learn how to swim once more.

Surely, with someone like Chiaki guiding him, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

**Author's Note:**

> you probably didnt cry but i hope it made you feel warm


End file.
